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Sunday, December 9, 2012

Paint Your Pet at Painting with a Twist

UPDATE: The next Paint Your Pet event in Orlando will be Feb. 24 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. And you can reserve your seat online now!

Many people would love the idea of having a portrait of their pet on canvas. Unfortunately, most of us can't afford the painter's sitting fees.

Well, I know of a way to do it yourself for less money. But I have no artistic talent, you say? Not to worry -- you can even do it with a glass of wine in your hand.

Painting with a Twisthas 73 locations across the country. Choose a two-hour or three-hour class, and learn to paint a masterpiece, a landscape, or something else to your liking. And they offer wine and beer to make the class a little more fun (hey, it worked for Renaissance and French Impressionist painters).

Some locations also offer a class called Paint Your Pet. Here you get to paint a beloved pet of your choice, almost Andy Warhol-style.

How does it work? Ana Perez, owner of the Orlando Painting with a Twist location, says it all starts with you. Take a close up picture of your pet... preferably of their head and shoulders.When you sign up for the class, give that photo to them.

"The end result depends on the quality of the picture," Perez said. " So as long as you provide us a high quality photo, you will get a good portrait of your pet."

The artist then takes that photo, projects it onto canvas, and draws the pet on.

When you get to the store for your class, your canvas is there for you, along with the picture of your pet, and a paint palette already prepared. Artists will work with you to mix the right shades of colors to give your pet and your pet's fur dimension.

Normally there is only one artist teaching the class. The artist stands at the stage and guides the students through the painting. But during Paint Your Pet, there are more artists on hand to help you. Did you ever consider that a black dog is not just black? said Ana Perez. There are blues and purples in the fur too. The artist is there to show you how reflections and shadows give your pet's portrait personality.

The class is three hours long, and costs $55. Sometimes the Orlando location will make the class a charity event.

Hey, Christie. Here at Painting with a Twist - Orlando, we have an SOS class once a month where you can fix, change or improve on any regular class painting you have painted in our studio. It's FREE and all you need to do is register in advance on the website. We want everyone to be happy with their painting and are here to help you "tweak" your masterpiece.

We've got a similar business here called PaintAlong Studios...I did go to a charity event there where the painting everyone worked on was of two swans...To say my results were "abstract" is giving them more credit than due...I had a great time there and enjoyed the experience but don't think even they can help with my extreme lack of artistic talent...I'd love to see a picture you paint of Lulu